on
Friday night the Tigers displayed maturity as they ended
Hawthorn's run of eight wins with a convincing 18-point win in chilly
but clear conditions at the MCG before 66,305; the best non-finals crowd
to see the pair play across 153 matches since 1925 ...Hawthorn were scoreless in the opening quarter
for a second time this season  previously R8 versus Sydney at the MCG,
0.4 to 5.1 ...Alastair Clarkson coached Hawthorn for
the 250th time  short only to the 299 matches as coach by John J
Kennedy (1957; 1960-63; 1967-76) ...the Cats made it four in-a-row against Brisbane
...Travis King for the AFL webpage noted
Steve Johnson with his second goal for the match reached his 442nd
career goal and overtook Billy Brownless as the third greatest
goalkicker for Geelong ...Melbourne snapped an eight-year long run of 10
losses and a draw to down the Magpies for the first time since 2007-R20
at the G ...the Swans gained its fourth-straight win over
the Crows ...Sydney's 6.2 opening is the equal of
1999-R20-SCG and 2014-R3-AO, but short of 7.2-44 in 1996-R16-SCG ...the SCG crowd of 38,690 ranks 10th of the best; for games versus the Crows
it tops 36,104 in 2006-R14  Sydney wore a special strip of a deep red
vee on a white background featuring the names of all Club Champions, red
shorts and red-and-white hooped socks ...the match between the Blues and Kangas on
Saturday night at Docklands snapped a string of six successive Friday
night events since 2009 ...North gained a percentage boosting 66pt win 
the best victory over Carlton since 2007-R21 by 82pts (161-79) at
Docklands ...the match on Saturday night at Carrara brought
the first of the season and the 153rd draw in League matches; it was a
club first for the Gold Coast in their 50th game on Carrara and the fifth of 675 games by West Coast
...it was the second draw at Carrara (as noted by
Paul Carter)  the first was between Brisbane (14.8) and West
Coast (13.14) in 1992-R5, 92pts each; Paul also noted at the time of the
1992 draw was John Worsfold's 100th game for the Eagles and it
was the only match he and his brother Peter (for the Bears) played
against each other at AFL level ...the Bulldogs snapped a six-game losing streak to
the Bombers with a big 87-point victory on Sunday afternoon at
Docklands; the margin included a new Doggie highest Q2 versus the Dons,
7.6 topping the 7.4 of 1977-R6 at Windy Hill ...for the first time in 43 years, a Bulldog kicked
seven goals against the Dons  it was former Essendon player Stewart
Crameri  last time was Laurie Sandilands in 1972-R12 at
Windy Hill ...GWS had its fourth annual trip to Subiaco and
for a large amount of the game matched it with a below-par Docker outfit
 while the Giants lost by 21 points they gave the home team much to
dwell on, even though they continue to hold top position on the ladder
...

Some milestones
to watch out for this Friday against Richmond 
more ...

Wednesday, July 29

Repetitive scores

Taking
up what we noticed in our R16 Stab Kicks,
for a third time in seven games GWS kicked 13.16-94 against Gold
Coast  2012-R7, W 94-87 at Manuka
2014-R6, L 94-134 at Carrara
2015-R16, W 94-79 at Carrara

This has triggered MWB who feels last week we may have missed scores
by Melbourne 
in R5-6-7 Melbourne scored 6.14-50, 7.8-50 and 7.8-50 ...
in R14-15-16 Melbourne scored 9.6-60, 7.18-60 and 8.12-60 (same
score with three different scorelines)

Martin notes when you consider that there has only been one prior
occurrence in the previous 118 years (Richmonds 11.13-79, 10.19-79,
12.7-79 in 1999-R18-19-20), it is rather unusual for a team to have
the same score three weeks in a row twice in the same season.

Also of note from Sunday was the Michael Rogers obso 
Tigers' last 5 scores at the MCG  10.12, 10.10, 10.18, 10.11, 10.18
...

Tuesday, July 28

Caroline
Wilson, The AgeAdam Goodes: Racist booing is blot on the game

The AFL's belated public
reaction to what has become a watershed issue for the game could be best summed
up by Gillon McLachlan's measured Monday media conference in which he
politely asked fans to refrain from booing Adam Goodes and described the
reasons for the booing as "complicated".

That so many of the game's key people have pussy-footed around the disgraceful
public treatment of Goodes and failed to show strong leadership when leadership
was required has just made life so much tougher for the one of the game's
Indigenous and all-time greats. A great who has become a target because he chose
to become a voice against racism and refused to leave his colour in the dressing
rooms.

That it has become such an insidious blot on the competition could have been at
the very least highlighted by the game's leaders back in May when the Swans
first made it clear during the round-eight Hawthorn game at the MCG that Goodes
was now booed every time he played in Melbourne and that they believed there was
a racist element to the booing 
more ...

Note: The West Australian reported Tuesday: Subiaco bosses
confirmed two people were ejected on Sunday under the venues racial
vilification complaint policy when Sydney played West Coast.

July
29 update:Andrew Webster, Chief Sporting Writer, Sydney Morning Herald wrote
in an article with former Sydney Swans champion Michael O'Loughlin who
considers Goodes a father figure 
"I hope the world takes notice of this," he said. "This isn't a WA thing or an
AFL thing  it's an Australian issue. To be called an Abo, a nigger, a black so
and so, for your entire life, and then expected to sit there and accept it, it's
a reflection on Australia and where we are as a country.
"For people to say it's not racist What else can it be? They are booing
someone who is a dual Brownlow medallist and someone who has a hundred other
accolades. They are booing someone who has done so much to make sure kids get a
better education. They are booing someone who has given so much more back to the
game than many others.
"I read about one fan who was evicted after yelling out, 'Get back to the zoo'.
He was just 'banter'. What absolute garbage. Because someone like Adam doesn't
sit in the corner and accept it  and neither would I  he is booed.
"I won't be taking my children to watch football interstate until that stops. My
mate is copping it everywhere he goes" 
more ...

Tuesday, July 28

A
correction to the crowd figure for Adelaide Oval would come as no surprise with
Eric Sorensen tagging the venue as "perpetually innumerate". We therefore
ask you to note for Round 17 
Ade-GC, 41,715 NOT 42,656
Total R17, 264,528
Progressive, 4,678,322.

Bruce Kennedy  PerspectivemoreCharles Boyles amazing photo
collection 
more
Management of Concussion in football
more
...Laws of the Game charter
more
...Worth
repeating more  key articles of 2014 interest